And here's the epilogue...

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"She wants a deal." Vance said the moment the door was closed behind Gibbs; he didn't need to tell the other man who he was talking about.

Gibbs bristled. "What? No way in hell. Goddammit, Leon, they'd better not have accepted her conditions."

"Gibbs." Vance said warningly, "She says she's seen the main members of the cartel; we need to bring them down."

"And what are her conditions? Full immunity? After what she's done? And how do you even know she's telling the truth?" Gibbs was furious and he wasn't even trying to hide it; he'd promised himself and Tony that he'd not let that girl walk away with what she had done, and here the Director was telling him that once again she had the upper hand.

"First of all, she won't get anything if she doesn't tell the truth." Vance replied calmly. "Second of all, no, she'll never get full immunity. She knows that. The best she might get will be a chance of parole in 10 to 15 years."

"That's not good enough, Leon." Gibbs clenched and unclenched his fists. "She confessed to the crimes she's committed and she wasn't even sorry. Ten years in jail will be nothing for her."

"Believe it or not, I hate this as much as you do and I know you've promised DiNozzo, but I think he'll understand. We need to see the whole picture, Gibbs."

The Lead Agent narrowed his eyes. "You've already accepted her terms, haven't you?"

"That's not my call anymore. The case is FBI's now and yes, they've accepted them. And before you start yelling, remember that they've lost agents, too; they want to bring those animals to justice. And if letting Chester have a very slight chance of freedom in future guarantees the safety of many more people, then I'll go with it."

Gibbs knew Vance was right; hell, he knew Tony would agree wholeheartedly; those animals had hurt so many families and so many innocent people, they needed to be stopped.

"Has she said anything yet?" He asked more calmly.

"She's in the FBI's custody now. And yes, I was told she's talking and she knows if she lies all the offers are off the table."

"She wants to just be eligible for parole?"

"Just that. And not before at least 10 years of her sentence is passed. And you know with a case like hers there's a big chance that she will never actually get released."

"She knows that, too, Leon. Have you thought about it? Why would she accept these terms?"

"Because it's better than no chance at all?" Vance shrugged. "Maybe she's angry she's the only one who's got caught. Besides, if she lies we won't lose anything. But if she's telling the truth and the names and info that she's given us lead us to something and we can shut down this cartel; then it's a huge win."

Gibbs didn't have anything to say, so he just turned around to leave.

"I can talk to DiNozzo if you don't wanna break your promise." Vance offered.

"My promise is already broken. But he'll understand." Gibbs said over his shoulder.

"How's he?" Vance's question once again stopped the Lead Agent.

He paused, then turned around to look at the Director. "He's getting there. Got himself released from the hospital a week early, but this time I can't blame him."

Vance knew what the older man meant. "Bad?"

"Not as bad as it used to be." Gibbs replied vaguely. "Like I said, he's getting there. He'll be back in no time."

Nodding, Vance said, "See that he gets everything he needs in order to do that."

Gibbs was relieved to see his SFA had Vance and the agency's full support, as well. Nodding once to show his understanding, he left the office.

...

Just as Gibbs stopped the car in front of the hospital entrance, Tony walked out, gingerly and very slowly. A nurse was helping him and although he seemed grateful, the younger man was also clearly frustrated. He was so concentrated on moving in a way that'd not jar his healing wounds that he didn't even notice his boss at first.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing back here?" Gibbs called as he walked up to his ailing agent. He'd gotten home just to find his place empty and he'd called McGee and ordered him to trace Tony's cellphone; he really wasn't ready to not find Tony where he was supposed to be. When the Junior Agent had told him that Tony was at the hospital, he'd broken all his records in driving to get there as fast as he could.

Tony stopped in his track. "Oh. Hey, Boss. Where did you come from?"

"Why are you here, DiNozzo?" He asked angrily; on the inside he was still shaken from not finding Tony at home and then hearing that he was back at the hospital.

"Um, right. Had physio, Boss." Tony replied, his voice laced with confusion; he had no idea why Gibbs was so angry.

'Damn.' Gibbs cursed inwardly. He'd totally forgotten that today was Tony's first physical therapy session as an outpatient.

The younger man had been released from the hospital two days ago and Gibbs had taken him to his own place to keep an eye on him and if it hadn't been for Vance's call, he would've never left the house. But Vance had called and after that Gibbs had felt the urge to check things with Fornell and then the BOLOs that they'd put out there; all those things had taken his time and he'd forgotten about the physical therapy.

"Couldn't you call? How did you even get here?"

"Umm, there's this thing called cab, Boss. It's great." Tony answered helpfully; he could see that something was bothering his boss, though.

Gibbs knew for a fact that his agent had grown a new fear for hospitals and their smells and everything medical; he'd promised himself to always be there whenever the younger man needed to go back to the hospital, either for further checkups or his physical therapy. And in his rage over Chester's case, he'd forgotten that. "You should've called me."

"I'm not a kid." Tony retorted wearily as Gibbs helped him sit in the car.

Moments later Gibbs was in the driver's seat; looking troubled.

"Gibbs," Tony said after studying him for a few moments. "Seriously, I'm fine. I know you know how I feel about hospitals these days, but I needed to see if I could do this." That was partly why he hadn't called his boss. Partly, he just didn't want to be a burden.

Gibbs' hand connected lightly with the back of his head. "You're not a burden; put that through your head before you end up with another concussion."

Rubbing his head, with his right hand, as the left arm was still in a sling, Tony rolled his eyes at the fact that sometimes Gibbs could read him so easily.

The only consolation was that he could read his boss just as easily. "So? What's wrong?" He could say Gibbs' problem was more than not finding him at home. "Why did you come back so early anyway? I figured I'd be back before you; even with the way I move around." And man he moved slowly.

"I'm on leave, DiNozzo. Wouldn't have left if not for Vance's call."

There, Gibbs' hand clenched around the steering wheel as he said the last two words.

"What was the call about, then?" Straight to the point was always the best strategy with Gibbs.

"Later." Gibbs didn't think talking about Melissa Chester right after a session of physical therapy was the best idea; Tony was clearly exhausted from that.

"Come on, Gibbs." Tony had different ideas, though. "It was about the organ dealing case, wasn't it?"

'Damn DiNozzo and his ability to connect the dots.' Gibbs thought. "Yes."

"So? Come on, tell me." When Gibbs remained silent, Tony sighed. "Gibbs, the more you wait the harder it gets, you know?"

"Tell you what?"

"Whatever bad news you're trying to hide."

"I'm not trying to hide anything."

"No, you're just trying to put it off for later. What's it? Has Chester escaped? Has she found some friend in higher places that has gotten rid of all the evidence so now she's gonna walk free?"

"That'll never happen, DiNozzo. I told you that."

"Then what's it, Gibbs? Because now I'm sure it's about her."

"She's asked for a deal."

Tony's eyebrow shot up. "Okaaaay. What kind of deal?" He asked slowly.

"She says she has information and names that can help the FBI to bring down the cartel."

"Full immunity?" Tony's voice was quiet. He felt like he was being selfish, but knowing that she might walk away just like that, after everything that she'd done; that was a bit too much and it was kinda too soon for that sort of news. But he knew he'd find it in him to eventually get over it if that meant many lives would be saved in the long run.

Gibbs heard the pain in Tony's voice and rushed to reassure him. "No. She'll have no chance of that with her case."

"Then what?"

"She wants to be eligible of parole."

"And?"

"And what?"

"That's it?"

"Isn't that bad enough for you, DiNozzo?"

"No. Well, yes; but not too bad. I mean at least she won't get away with it."

"I promised you she won't ever get free." Gibbs said angrily.

"And she's not." Tony replied logically. "She's gonna go to jail and she might or might not get free sometime in future. The way you acted I thought she's already free."

"She doesn't deserve parole." Gibbs shouted in the confined space of the car.

Tony winced at the loud roar. "No, she doesn't. But if it means the whole organization will be shut down and lives would be saved, then it's worth it."

Gibbs was quiet after that; he knew Tony would see it this way; he knew he would've seen it this way if he'd been the one suffering from her insanity; but he also felt like he'd somehow broken his promise to his agent.

"Boss, it's alright. Really." Tony could understand what Gibbs' problem was. "I'm not gonna lie, if she'd gotten full immunity, I probably would've gotten up and left; not because I felt you broke a promise, I know it's out of your hand, but because I wouldn't feel really safe and well, because I'd be too angry and hurt to stick around. I know it's selfish but-"

"It's not." Gibbs interrupted him before he could go any further.

"It is a little bit." Tony sighed. "But now she's gonna go to jail and who knows when she'll become eligible."

"Not before 10 years." Gibbs helped. "20, if I can pull some strings."

"What?" Tony's eyes widened. "That's almost life sentence without parole. Just why would she give up information for that? You sure she doesn't have something up her sleeve?"

"She's 27, DiNozzo. In 20 years she'll be only 47."

"Yeah, she'll be still younger than you are now, I know, but-"

The hand that collided with the back of his head was completely expected after a comment like that.

"She was going to rot in jail. Now she might get free in 20 years."

"And she might not. And come on, Boss, in 20 years we won't even care about her. There will be so many other things to be worried about." He didn't mention that in 20 years, they might not even be alive to care about her; with the job they had they couldn't be sure they'd be alive in 20 days, let alone 20 years.

"You didn't break your promise, alright?" Tony insisted. "And thanks for that." He added more softly.

Gibbs glanced at his agent and saw the gratitude under all the pain and weariness in those green eyes.

Tony was right, in 20 years, they wouldn't even remember her so much; she wasn't worth remembering; maybe the situation wasn't that bad after all. Everything was still so fresh and with Tony who'd just started seeing Dr. Cranston, his emotions were raw, too; hell, he still had nightmares some nights; but no matter how long it took, they'd finally move past this one and he'd make sure Tony wouldn't feel betrayed by the system after sacrificing so much.

"You alright with it?"

"Me?" Tony paused. "Yeah, yeah, I guess I am." And he meant it. "She's not gonna get away with anything; just as you said."

"If you changed your mind; let me know, my rifle is still in the closet."

Tony was pretty sure Gibbs wasn't exactly joking. "Umm, yeah, thanks, I think. But let's leave her punishment to the system, huh?"

"We already have."

"And hopefully the rest of them will pay, too, now. This is actually a better outcome than I thought."

"See; told you, you did great. Just, next time, change your methods."

Tony stared at the older man incredulously before chuckling. "You got it, Boss."

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... The End...

A/N: And that's it... Thanks for sticking around, even though this one proved to be different than my other stories and kinda gorier!

Let me know what you think. ;)

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All mistakes are mine.

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